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What’s the number one thing you think of when October rolls around?  That’s right, HALLOWEEN!  One of the most exciting holidays for children!  They get to dress up in cute costumes and get candy.  A LOT of candy.  How can it get any better than that for a kid?  But now that we’re all in universities now, is the Halloween magic over?  Some adults might say that we are, in fact, too old to be celebrating Halloween.  But I can confidently say that in my past three years at UMBC, celebrating Halloween has been an annual event, whether it’s going to Monster Bash, dressing up around campus, having kids from Catonsville come to residence halls and ask for candy, etc. 

So, what I’d like to know is, if you are participating in Halloween, what are you going to do?  If you plan to be in costume, what are you going to be?

I’ll start: my name’s Christine, I’m going to be a circus ringmaster, I’m going to a costume party with my friends!  (Free candy! Who says youth has to die with age?)

If you aren’t celebrating Halloween, why not and what are you going to be doing instead?

And for everyone, would you like to see Halloween-themed programs on campus?  If so, list some suggestions on what you’d like to do! :)

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Irish Dancing

Belly Dancing

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One of UMBC’s top revenue-generating technologies has just been licensed for the third time, this time to GE Healthcare. This demonstrates that the university’s strong efforts to commercialize its research are paying off.

“UMBC benefits from technology transfer not just in measurable dollars from licensing revenue but also by building relationships with companies,” says Wendy Martin, director of technology development at UMBC.

The technology allows companies to use an external sensor to measure a range of environmental factors including pH, oxygen, and carbon dioxide levels in cell culture. The sensor peels and sticks to the inside of the plastic or glassware. The entire vessel is then sterilized and sold to the customer. The sensor works by looking for a specific fluorescent signature associated with each environmental factor.

“It works much like a bar code scanner,” says Govind Rao, a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at UMBC who developed the technology after almost 20 years of research.

Prior methods required scientists to use something like an “electrical dipstick.” That is, says Rao, “they had to place a corded, electrical probe into the cell culture,” risking contamination of the entire culture. “It’s like moving from a corded phone to a cordless phone,” he says.

Because the adhesive probe allows scientists to avoid costly contamination it saves companies millions in labor and materials. For the general population this means that the time to market for new drugs can be reduced -- an innovation that positively impacts human health.

Courtesy of ology.com

If you are a Facebook user like most of us, when you “logout” of the site you believe that it no longer  has access.

Wrong!

Facebook now admits to having cookies that continually track a user’s activities after signing off. The user must log off  and close it’s browser completely in order for tracking to stop.

“Like every site on the Internet that personalises content and tries to provide a secure experience for users, we place cookies on the computer of the user…..”Three of these cookies on some users’ computers inadvertently included unique identifiers when the user had logged out of Facebook.”

Facebook says it has fixed a problem with cookies that could identify and track users when they visit other websites.

Any page with Facebook codes on them (such as Like buttons, Share buttons, or widgets) will still capture your activity and send it to Facebook, even after you log out.

IN MORE FACEBOOK NEWS…………

The company has decided to enter politics.

Facebook is starting an employee funded PAC that funds candidates who promote

Our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” a company spokesman said.

There are no further details as to which candidates the PAC plans to fund. Let’s hope they like cookies.